Pectous materials



enema on. 12, 1937- 2,095 17 UNITED TATES PATENT QFFI'CE PECTOUS MATERIALS William Abner Rocker, Martinsburg, W. Va 8-ssignor to National Fruit Products Company, Incorporated, Washington, D.- C.

No Drawing. Application February 2, 1936, Serial No. 709,508

3 Claims. (Cl. 99-132) This invention relates to pectous materials and by the preservers in the manufacture of jams, more particularly to an improved process of prejellies and marmalades. Since the preservers, paring standardized pectin containing material. naturally, are better acquainted with the prop- As is known, pectin is the jellifying constituent erties and characteristics of pectin than the 5 in fruit, jellies and jams; This material, although householder, it is necessary only that they be pro- 5 relatively recently developed on a commercial vided with available or extractable pectin and scale, has gone into wide use. It occurs widely not necessarily with the pure pectin. The present in the vegetable kingdom. One of the largest invention therefore is based upon the concept of sources of pectin raw material is apple pomace, providing a novel source of pectin raw material the residue left after extraction of apple juice especially suitable for the wholesale preserving 10 from the raw apple, trade. To do this the typical raw materia such In the ordinary method of manufacturing and as apple pomace, is subjected to a special treatmarketing pectin at the present time, the fruit, ment whereby its physicochemical and physical such as apple, is crushed and pressed to express characteristics are modified so as to make it a the juice. The residue or pomace is then given a more economical and readily workable starting 15 cold water leach to extract sugar and other water material for the wholesale preserver. solubles, and is then treated with hot acidulated An object of the present invention therefore is water. The reason for such treatment is that the to provide an improved type of pectin containing pectin is relatively insoluble in cold. water, but is material.

solubilized in a hot acidic aqueous solution. The Another object is to provide an improved 20 pectin containing liquor is thereafter separated pectous substance. which has been specially from the pulp or residue by filtering or pressing treated to render it available for standardized and is then concentrated. The concentrate may extraction processes at the preserving plant. be marketed as a liquid pectin. To obtain a dry Yet another object is to provide as a new prodpowdered pectin, the concentrate is treated with net a standardized pectin containing material 25 a suitable precipitating agent which throws down from which the pectin is readily extractable. the pectin. After filtration the precipitated With these and equally important Objects in pectin is then dried. I view, the invention comprehends the concept of In marketing dried powdered pectin, it is cussubjecting the usual pectin containing materials,

tomary to standardize it with sugar. This is such as apple pomace, to a special treatment to 30 necessary in order to produce a pectin product of not only chemically purify it, but also to improve a standard gel strength. In the ordinary course its physical condition rendering it more amenable of manufacture therefore, after a batch of pectin to subsequent extraction processes; and further, is produced, jelly tests are made to determine the to standardize the purified pectous material so gel strength of that particular pectin. Thus, for as to facilitate the establishment of extraction 5 example, the pectin obtained from one batch may control and to insure a uniformity in the final have a gel strength of say 70; this is a pectin of product. such setting power, that one pound will set 70 Incarrying out the process,apple pomace,either pounds of sugar when combined with the proper in a fresh wet state, from the cider mills, or in proportions of water and acid. On the other a dry preserved state, is subjected to a purifying 40 hand, another batch of pectin made by the same step. This may readily be done by treating the process may have a higher or lower gel strength.' pomace with dilute alcohol. As a result 'of such For very obvious reasons, therefore, it is detreatment alcohol soluble substances, such as sirable to market a. pectin product of a standardtannins, sugars, flavors and the like, are removed.

ized character. This variation in the gel strength The removal of tannins is advantageous because 45 of the pectin is inherent in the nature of the raw if tannins and starch are present in the final material, for the quantity of available orexproduct, as has been the case in the past, these tractable pectin varies with the character and combine in a final-"jelly to give a cloudy, unsightly tur y of the fruit I product. The treatment with alcohol likewise 5o As the industry is conducted today, the pectin removes certain constituents of a gummy or waxy in pure form, either in the dry solidcondition or nature which tend to impede subsequent filtraasa. liquid concentrate,-is manufactured at the tion operations. The alcohol used for the expectin plant and then shipped to preservers, or in traction process may be relatively dilute and if small packages to the household trade. A very desired may be used at elevated temperature.

large proportion of the pectin produced is used After extraction with alcohol the mm or 55 pomace is then reduced in size. The pectin is distributed through the fruit in close association with the cell structure; for example, in the citrous fruit much of the pectin is contained in the albedo. I have found that if the particle size of the pomace is reduced, solubilizing and extraction of the pectin is markedly facilitated. According to the present method therefore the alcohol extracted pomace is ground, preferably to about a 60 mesh. Thereafter the finely divided pectin containing material may be pressed, filtered, or otherwise treated, to remove traces of alcohol.

The product resulting from this treatment'comprises essentially purified pectin containing fibers in which the pectin is in a readily extractable condition. As noted above, however, the quantity of available pectin from different batches of apple pomace may vary considerably. It isdecidedly advantageous if not commercially essential, to ship the pectin containing material to the manufacturer in a standardized condition. According to the present process the purified pectin containing fibers are standardized with purified depectinized fruit fibers. After analyzing the separate batches of the purified pectin fibers to determine the pectin content, additions of the depectinized fibers are then made to establish a uniform pectous content for a given volume or weight of the product.

The preparation of the depectinized fibersis of course understood by those skilled in the art. A considerable quantity of this material is available at a pectin plant where the purified pectin is made, since it is obtained as a filter press residue.

The ultimate product therefore comprises a quantity of purified pectin containing fibers with a varying quantity of purified depectinized fibers such that the final unit contains a quantity of pectin of a predetermined jellified strength or ability. 1

Since the product is in finely divided form from which the pectin may readily be extracted, such extraction can most economically be carried out at the preserving plant. This may readily be done by treating a given quantity of the shipped product with a hot acidulating aqueous solution. Due to the improved physical and chemical characteristics of the material, the extractions can be carried out expeditiously and at a minimum temperature. After the material has been treated with the acidulated water at the proper temperature and' for the required period of time, the mass is filtered and a maximum amount of the pectin content of the fibers is obtained in the filtrate. Since the material operated upon has been preliminarily purified by extraction of tannins, gums and the like, the filtrate is obtained in highly clarified form. Further due to this preliminary purification treatment, filtration is much more rapidly carried out.

Of course, it will be understood that, if desired, the purified fibers may be subjected to a preliminary cold water leach to extract more of the residual sugars. Likewise, if desired, the usual expedients used in filtration may be availed of; thus, if desired, any predetermined quantity of a suitable filter aid may be added to the mass to improve the filtration step.

After the filtration the clarified filtrate may be concentrated down to the desired strength and consistency, and then used in the preparation of the finished jams and jellies.

It will be observed that operating according to the present process the preserver has only to acidulate his unit mass of the special raw material and is positively assured of a given predetermined jellifying strength or ability in the filtrate. This at the one time eliminat s the necessity for a gel test and concomitant adjustments to standardize his pectin and enables the preserver to operate at the maximum speed.

The equipment required at the preserving plant involves only a vat or other suitable receptacle for the hot leach and the filtration equipment. These units of equipment are, as a matter of fact, always present in a well equipped preserving plant. 7

An outstanding advantage of the present process is the very high yield of pectin from a 'given weight of pomace for, as noted above,

not only does the reduction in size ofthe pomace particles increase the speed of extraction but it also increases the quantity of pectin extracted. The preserver therefore is assured not only of maximum pectin value, from a given mass of pomace, but also of rapid production. Thus, by using such starting material he secures high yields in a shorter time which involve a considerably diminished expenditure due to such factors as the use of filtration, elimination of jelly tests and the like.

It will be understood of course that there is a wide permissive variation in the sequence of steps in the operation as well as materials employed. Thus, for example, insteadv of using ethyl alcohol as a solvent, other similarly acting material may be employed, such as methyl or butyl alcohol, petroleum ether, sulphuric ether and the like. Also, since many of the undesirable constituents in the raw pomace are water soluble.

substances, such as fruit sugars and water soluble colors and flavors, economies in the quantity of solvent used may be. secured by giving the marc or pomace a preliminary cold water leach. This treatment is optional and is not recommended in all cases. Likewise, if desired. the pomace may be first ground before being subjected to the action of the alcoholic solvent.

While a preferred modification of the invention has been described, it is to be understood that this is given merely to explain the'underlying salient features of the improvement. Since the novel results described may be achieved by other specific methods, these equivalent operations are considered to be within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.-

-I claim:

1.' The process of preparing a pectin containing fruit fibers material which comprises, subjecting fruit fibers containing pectin to the action of an alcoholic solvent, then grinding the fibers and adding thereto a quantity of depectinized fruit fibers, the said quantity being predetermined upon the gel strength of the particular pectin containing fibers in admixture therewith, whereby upon subsequent extraction with an acidulated aqueous medium a pectous extract of predetermined jellifying strength is produced. a

2. A method of preparing pectin which comprises subjecting pectin containing fruit fibers to the action of an alcoholic solvent, reducing the fibers to' a state of fine subdivision, admixing with the pectin containing fibers a predetermined quantity of depectinized fruit fibers to produce a transportable mass containing potentially extractable pectin of definite and predetermined jellifying ability; then subsequently treating the entire mixture to extract an aqueous pectous solution of predetermined jellifying capacity.

3. A process of preparing pectin which comprises subjecting pectin containing fruit fibers to the action of an alcoholic solvent, reducing the particle size of the fibers, admixing with the finely divided purified fibers a predetermined quantity of purified depectinized fibers to produce, as an article ofcommerce, a standardized pectin containing mass; then subsequently subjecting the mass to a. cold water leach to extract water soluble materials, andsubjecting the fibers to the action of a hot acidulated aqueous solution, filtering the mass and concentrating the filtrate, such filtratebeing characterized by a predetermined jellifying capacity.

. WILLIAM ABNER ROCKER. 

